Downtown Sanford Mural Trail

2018 Best Outdoor Space Improvement

Sanford, NC

In 2014 the City of Sanford Appearance Commission began to explore the idea of developing a mural trail in Historic Downtown Sanford.

The murals would have to be historically appropriate, illustrating Sanford’s past. Four years later, five murals were completed. The murals tell the stories of: Howard Auman, an all-star Tobacco State League pitcher for the Sanford Spinners; Herb Thomas, NASCAR’s first two-time champion, and his famous Hudson Hornet; Fairview Dairy, with the first 3-D mural in the state; Silent Wings, honoring three Sanford World War II glider pilots; W.B. Wicker and Link Boykin, Visionary Builders from the African-American community; and Sanford’s rich agricultural assets represented by tobacco farming.

The murals were placed on private buildings and the $84,000 project was funded through private donations and grants. The murals leveraged additional façade improvements and attracted local, statewide, and national media coverage.